Ted Nugent, the legendary rocker who has very right leaning views has recently weighed in on the prevalence of U.S. obesity, a chronic disease affecting more than 40% of the country’s population with medical costs nearing $175 billion.
The outspoken conservative rocker, who turned 73 last December, made his comments in response to former U.S. secretary of defense Mark Esper’s warning about the U.S. military’s dismal recruitment numbers. Esper wrote in an op-ed for Fox News that only a small fraction of the U.S. is fit to serve anymore since many are either overweight, on drugs or have a criminal past.
Nugent would state: “Hey, America, what the hell are you eating? I’ve never seen so much blubber on the streets of this country since I was in the Prince Of Wales Island watching pods of whales surface. And if that’s offensive to some people, I’ll tell you what’s offensive to God: you destroying your sacred temple with toxic non-food with ingredients which you can’t pronounce in portions that would sink the Bismarck.”
Nugent’s rant would not end there as he would dive even deeper into the issue.
He questioned: “How braindead, how soulless does a human being have to be to put drugs, alcohol and tobacco into your sacred temple?”
Then stated: “And if that’s offensive to some people, you’re offensive, because that’s insane behavior, it’s insane misbehavior, and you’re costing the rest of us a whole bunch of tax dollars to cover your fat, unhealthy, uncaring, selfish ass. So those are the people that can’t qualify to fight for this country, because they’d rather grow blubber than to protect freedom. And if that’s offensive to some people, tough sh*t. Wake up and treat your gift from God with a little respect for a change.”
The tide would turn a bit when Ted would then shift into a more political approach as it comes to war: “We need to be a nation of warriors, and right now we’re not. And that’s shameful.”
Two months ago, Ted once again shot down the claim that he dodged the Vietnam draft by vomiting and defecating on himself and failing the physical exam. The legendary rocker said in a 1977 High Times magazine article that he faked symptoms (being unhygienic to appear mentally unfit) and used meth before his military physical to get out of serving. But in a 2006 interview with the U.K. Independent newspaper, he said he made up that story to the High Times reporter.
The musician brought up the accusation of draft dodging during a YouTube livestream on July 31. Addressing one of the points most frequently raised by his critics, Ted said: “They claim I dodged the draft. I didn’t dodge the draft. I was Bruce Lee. [They say] ‘Well, he got a 4-F’ [one of the classifications used by the Selective Service to designate someone who is unfit for military service]. I got a 1-Y [referring to registrants qualified for service only in time of war or national emergency]. I was eligible for the draft. I was in the Oakland Community College as a student for those two years, and I got a 1-Y, which means, I guess, they wouldn’t take me as quick as they would take a 1[-A], but in ’69 they stopped taking guys.’
He repeated: “I didn’t dodge the draft. Get over it. That was a High Times magazine interview where I conveyed the story of my buddy, this great drummer KJ Knight. It was hysterical. He completely ruined his entire life just to get out of the draft, which was cool because the Vietnam war was illegal. If I would have known what I know now then, I would have dodged the draft. Like Muhammad Ali. The Vietnam war was immoral; it was illegal. It was the military industrial congressional complex robbing taxpayers and getting Americans killed for no fucking reason at all. But I didn’t dodge the draft. I wasn’t smart enough. If I would have gone over there, I might have won the fucking war, okay?”
Nugent also explained that he was typically “extremely anti-drug” but “I snorted some crystal methedrine” in order to avoid the draft.
This past May, fellow rocker Joan Jett brought up Nugent’s alleged draft dodging while responding to Ted’s claim that she did not deserve to be on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of 100 Greatest Guitarists. At the time, she said: “Ted Nugent has to live with being Ted Nugent. He has to be in that body, so that’s punishment enough. He’s not a tough guy. He plays tough guy, but this is the guy who shit his pants — literally — so he didn’t have to go in the Army. So this is the tough guy who’s running around America, stirring things up against each other.”
